43 Rumors

Sounds interesting for sure. I’m personally more interested in the new modular Olympus of Panasonic GF2 since I want a system camera, not a DSLR companion, but for those people looking for the latter this sounds like it could be the latter. Mike Johnston may finally get his dream compact.

Choices choices, this could be ideal for my pocket!

No viewfinder, no sale.

Want to add further to my previous comment: “The new camera is reported to be very small (just a little bit bigger than the current Panasonic LX3).”-> what the point. panasonic, learn from sony, they make beautifully designed APSC mirrorless camera which is far more smaller than all existing micro 4/3 (any one say the NEX-5 is not a beauty is because you don’t actually play with it for real) At least Olympus rumors about the modular system are promising. I hope that the above rumor about new Pana thing won’t come true. Or they will be damned!!!

Well If the price remains close to that of LX3! Then it will be interesting.
Bu it seems a bit stange to make a camera with m43 sensor in a small body. The lens would have to extend a lot ( to create a big image circle) and it will be difficult to make it fast or wide enough.
But still very interesting!

I was hoping more for a smaller lx3 with a small electronic viewfinder and a new 1/1.3″ backlit sensor!!!

GF2 with rangefinder PLEASE!

This makes total sense. An LX4 with the same size sensor as the LX3 would never have sold as well these days.

With the LX3 selling for around $400 and the E-PL1 hovering around $500, the high-end compact market is in the process of getting slaughtered by larger-sensor cameras in small bodies.

Make an LX4 with a 4/3 sensor and keep the price below the E-PL1 (which hit $475 earlier this year, and will probably see that price again by Xmas) and you’ll kill off the Canon G11.

Give it an optional EVF and it will offer an alternative to the Sony NEXes too.

I wonder what type of video will it have. I hope video doesn’t have the banding (shinny vertical streaks from light sources and shinny surface).

Definitely promising but I wonder how this would be priced?
It can’t be more than the GF1 but then again, this includes a leica lens and if the rumours are correct – has an rf.
And if the GF2 is just around the corner, then I guess that can replace the GF1′s intro price point.
As others have noted, its all about the lens aperture.
Personally I’d live with just a 2X zoom from 24/28mm – 50/55mm f2.0 constant without a massively protruding lens. Perfect street camera!!!! Eat the X1, DP1/2, etc. all in one hit.

I agree with “G. Tom” , 72mm is too small, if more than 3X is not possible then maybe it would be preferable a 28-84 mm equivalent lens.

I knew it! This is awesome, although I was hoping for something SMALLER than the LX3. This would be a great companion camera to my GHx, and it’s something I can easily throw in my shorts pocket and always have with me. Don’t need interchangeable lenses in a companion camera, certainly not one that’s just meant for snapshots. This may be the best P&S camera to come out before cell phone cameras take over the segment.

don says: Consider it may be a faster zoom lens then any existing kit zoom lens only much much smaller since can collapse into the body.

It will not be much smaller just because it can collapse into the body. There is simply not a lot of space left to collapse into. If it’s a faster zoom it will more likely be LARGER, rather than smaller.
The only way to make this camera significantly smaller is to make the lens SLOW.

“Consider that the LX3 lens in m4/3 format would only lose 1 stop speed and be slightly less wide ie a compact collapsing 28-84/f2.8-4 lens”

I don’t follow your math: the LX3 lens is a 5.1-12.8mm zoom — about 10-25mm equiv. if you could use it on m4/3. (Leaving aside the fact that it would have to be larger in order to create a big enough image circle.)

Anyway, if you’re saying that a 14-42, f2.8-4 zoom is somehow possible for the rumoured camera, that would be great. But I’m skeptical about the size of such a lens, even scaled down for a non-interchangeable setup w/ leaf shutter and the works.

@dMS
“You gotta be kidding, wildlife, sports, with any of the m4/3 options available?”

If you ca’t take a good wildlife shot with a m4/3′s camera it’s not the cameras fault. Example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heb-art/4739627367/

Your selling mirrorless camera potential way short if you think they can’t do everything. I never plan on buying another DSLR again.

Whoever invented this rumour, he obviously never bothered to think about whether it would be doable at all. A Camera with a FT-size Sensor an a 3x Zoom at a size comparable to the LX3? Thats impossible. Just look at how big the oly 14-42 m.Zuiko is – at f/3.5-5.6 – and they went to great lengths to make it as small as possible. A 2x Zoom starting at f/5.0 to f/7.1, that might be feasable.

I would expect F4 – F6 zoom from 14-60mm at best. If you want an image circle that big, you have to have big glass, there is no shortcut and no way to make a fast lens without a large primary lens.

@ Luke: no, the X1 has a 24/2.8 prime lens.

I’d much prefer an electronic viewfinder with all the info it can provide like review, magnification, shooting data, live histogram and highlight clipping.

An OVF works best on a DSLR which is used for action.

But an OVF is better than no eye-level finder at all. Hopefully it’s not an accessory for €200+.

@Erik: you can certainly project image info unto an OVF, so don’t discount the possibility of having both. If they’re talking about a built-in RF-style OVF, then they’d have to have a way to project the secondary image unto it for focusing, and that would be done by projecting an electronic image. It would give you the best of both worlds I think – low light focusing with EVF-style information.

This camera has a lot of potential. But to beat the competition, it has to begin at 24 mm equivalent.

People who think it’s not feasible because of size don’t know optical formulas. Look at rangefinder lenses, which cover a sensor (film) surface 4x larger than mFT!

With progress in sensor technology (backlighted sensors and gapless design) and in embedded computing power for optical corrections, it becomes feasible to have the rays hitting the sensor at a higher angle. That means that the flange distance can be reduced, i.e., the formula be less retrofocus. The result is a smaller lens that covers the wide end.

A fixed lens allows this kind of construction (very small flange distance). Plus the lens can retract when switch off to be pocketable.

Altogether, this camera can be a very serious beast but a rangefinder means it will be expensive. It will be a technical demonstrator and seduce a lot of professional street photographers if the focals and apertures are good — a Leica alternative, between the X1 and the M8/9.

@Mike: “panasonic, learn from sony, they make beautifully designed APSC mirrorless camera which is far more smaller than all existing micro 4/3″
Put a lens on any NEX and the only smaller area is for the fingers between the handle and the lens. Pointless for the size of the system, and definitely not “far more smaller” (sic) than mFT cameras. Marketing says: “Always measure the thickness at the thinnest point: consumers compare numbers on a sheet, not cameras+lens in their hands.”

Well, this sound to good to be true, but what if..

..its true and could be something like this:

- Size somewhere between, LX, X1 and E-PL1
- 24-70mm Zoom
- F2,8-3,5
- Good Sized Optical Viewfinder with Gridlines to simulate a “Rangfinder”
- 4/3 Sensor
- Decent AF

And something like this would actually announced, then it well sell like sliced bread. I would go even that far that such a camera will reduce the m4/3 EVIL market by a not so small degree.

Would I buy one? Very likely!!

B

Well if this “rumor” is true, then it will be a great day. I am amazed at some of the INSANE comments about this rumor. How could the introduction of a completely different system harm the the resale value of your already outdated E-P1? “They will be damned”, come on! I know that this site is mostly moronic, but you can do better people. Kudos to 43rumors if they get this one right.

interesting, very interesting …

Good one admin……!!!!!!!!!

>> (drumming)….it will have a special rangefinder-type optical viewfinder

What’s a joke.

For eon ago, canon S70 has it. Better that blah-blah ‘with marks in it for max zoom and fully wide angle!’ .. S70′s VF is zooooomed .. its viewing angle varies along with the lens’s focal length!!

About the 3x lens? How about internal zoom?

“and innovative Leica designed rangefinder”….

That must be a mistake. “Leica” and “innovative” are two terms which don’t fit together! Last time Leica did something innovative was in 1913…

As a Canon S90 user now, I’d buy this in a heartbeat if the specs and IQ are what they should be (and it exists). If the price is similar to S90/G11/LX3/EX1, and they can deliver it in volume this camera will own the high end compact market. I really don’t understand the negativity here.

And while other similar targeted cameras offer slightly more zoom, that’s mainly negated by being able to crop from 12MP. If it also has HD video, which it presumably will, then it beats the S90/G11/EX1 (with the Sony sensor that can only do VGA) hands down.

There has been one camera with large sensor and fixed zoom lens – the Sony R-1 which had APS-C-sized sensor and 24-120 eq. zoom.

Actually I guess the Leica is 1x (fixed prime), rather than 0x?

The negativity here comes from this being a website for ILC crowd. I personally wouldn’t buy the described camera. One lens does not fulfill all my needs. Also, if space is limited, I’d rather have a flip out & twist LCD than optical viewfinder. It’s almost as useful in bright sunshine, you get more shooting angles and I don’t mind the short blackout after taking an image.

The only logic in releasing a fixed lens camera with m4/3 sensor is if it is the LX3 successor – to kill off the prosumer competition: the S90, the G11, the EX1. In the same swipe, it would also kill NEX-3/5 with primes and 3x zooms. It all depends on the pricing – and Panasonic is not known for cheap cameras . If it is around 500 USD / EUR mark and has at least 720p video, then all the other mentioned cameras will be gone, their sensors cannot compete. And the price could be low, because all Panasonic has to do is use its existing sensor, GF1 body and electronics and combine it with new lens.

The size? Look at E-PL1 with kit lens, shave 5 mm of width and some 10-15 mm of length ( when the mount is removed and the lens can collapse into the body ). I guess it should be around Fuji S1xxx / S2xxx P&S superzoom size.

“That sounds a little bit weird because Leica already launched a very similar camera…the Leica X1.”

Nonsense. The X1 is Leica built, not a rebranded Panasonic, and is clearly aimed at a very different type of user.

Not that I trust this rumor. Reality usually is a lot more down to earth rather than a wish-list come true.

Some very interesting comments and projections for this new model made above. From all indications of information released so far this model fits the earlier more detailed leaked description last fall of two new models to come and a reported sighting of the same. This indicated one new smaller than GF1 model with 720P60 HD, possible 4/3 sensor, inbody viewfinder, and projected cost of about $600. However it is possible this sighting and pricing was for a small m4/3 model with 14/2.5? It is quite possible it will be similar in size to X1 with smaller screen in the middle maybe swinging like patent and viewfinder to the left top corner? This leaves a question of where to place the flash and small removable hotshoe similar to NEX only hotshoe mt? Alternatively the camera could be smaller if the optical viewfinder is removable hotshoe mounted and flash in body. The rumor did say one model with fixed viewfinder, another with moveable finder but no pictures.

The other model mentioned was to have 1080P60 HD and sport a 24-140mm/f2.5-? lens. My guess is this model will be the same body as the first one described above and similar lens only the sensor will be smaller LX 3 size. This model will be designed and preferred for HD video because of its much faster and small size lens compared to present DSLR offerings. Because of the 4.4X form factor compared to 2X for m4/3 the lens would have about double the focal length for the same lens speed? Pany has already indicated they will continue the LX series and I believe that means the LX3 model with present faster zoom lens will remain in the lineup with possible new sensor.

If you remember the earlier FT3 rumor was there were two m4/3 cameras coming soon from Pany, one with fixed lens and one with m4/3 mt. I think the latter one will be equally smaller similar design only with protruding flange in place of retracted lens and would come with the new small 14/f2.5 pancake lens. Even possible Pany might use this protrusion for placement of simple shutter mechanism since on previous model the quiet shutter would be in the lens? Thus photographer would have a choice fixed small zoom or interchangeable lenses in a very small camera with full operational controls. Pany has said they will be producing a smaller m4/3 camera much like what was done with G10 so expect smaller lower resolution screen, maybe plastic body to get the price down. That would enable Pany to set the first zoom camera with more expensive lens at a higher price point. These cameras should prove to be very potent competition for both the very popular super compacts and the NEXs or other small ILS depending on pricing.

Just my two bits